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Setting up my wire trellises
adriennepratt1XavD-ucV
Posts: 17
Hello there, complete beginner here, hoping for some ABC help!
I'm planning to make a wire trellis for Virginia Creeper, Ivy, and Jasmine across a rear south-facing breezeblock wall (fastest coverage possible desired); wisteria, clematis, and honeysuckle along a west-facing fence; and jasmine and wisteria along an east-facing fence. Hopefully that all sounds okay in principle? Spaced according to label info on spreads.
I'm planning on buying gripple wire and tensioners. Sound good? It is more expensive but seems to last longer than cheaper solutions. People seem happy with Gripple and I am a complete beginner so no complexity desired.
I also need to choose vine eyes and work out how to space them. Is it the case that the longer the vine eye the better (looking at 100mm)? Particularly in the case of the fences (shared with neighbours) I'd like to keep the creepers as far out as possible. Is there any such thing as too long?
Any warnings most appreciated.
I'm planning to make a wire trellis for Virginia Creeper, Ivy, and Jasmine across a rear south-facing breezeblock wall (fastest coverage possible desired); wisteria, clematis, and honeysuckle along a west-facing fence; and jasmine and wisteria along an east-facing fence. Hopefully that all sounds okay in principle? Spaced according to label info on spreads.
I'm planning on buying gripple wire and tensioners. Sound good? It is more expensive but seems to last longer than cheaper solutions. People seem happy with Gripple and I am a complete beginner so no complexity desired.
I also need to choose vine eyes and work out how to space them. Is it the case that the longer the vine eye the better (looking at 100mm)? Particularly in the case of the fences (shared with neighbours) I'd like to keep the creepers as far out as possible. Is there any such thing as too long?
Any warnings most appreciated.
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Posts
I found it easy to install and over the 6+ years I've had them they're all still like new.
It's really easy to keep the tension - if needed just pull the nylon wire through the tensioner a bit more and job done - takes about 5 seconds.
https://www.rivelinglenproducts.com/gripple-trellising-system-19-c.asp
Your ideas on plants to cover the wallI think will give you problems a few years down the road.
They're so vigorous I think you'll end up with a massive tangle of stems.
Could you post a photo of the offending wall and give us an idea of where you are? I'm sure we can come up with some other suggestions for you.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
All the parthenocissus, including V. creeper, cover large house walls easily, as do many ivies.
Jasmine isn't hardy everywhere.
Wire wouldn't be needed for the first two, as they self cling.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Well here's a picture of my very sad postage stamp estate garden (only rear bed dug so far). I won't be spending much time out in it because I can't stand being overlooked by 50 people while drinking my coffee. But I also cannot bear looking at the breeze block wall from my kitchen. I need to hide it FAST (at low cost). Green along fences would also be appreciated. I would prefer jasmine on the wall honestly as evergreen and flowering, I just don't know how fast it will grow....
I have actually bought small evergreen jasmine (3), wisteria (2) , clematis (1) and honeysuckle (2) plants already.
More advice much appreciated. Oh, I'm in the Dublin area in Ireland.
I think a trachelospermum jasminoides would work on that wall. It's evergreen and smothered in highly scented flowers in summer.
I'm assuming that winters aren't too harsh in Dublin, so it should be hardy enough.
1 plant is all you will need to cover the entire wall.
It won't grow fast for the first year or so while it's settling in but then it'll grow quickly. Anything you plant there will take a while to settle then grow.
Enrich the planting area with some rotted manure to give it a boost.
You will need vine eyes and wire to train it over the wall.
While you're waiting for it to grow, you could grow a load of sweet peas on the wall to cover it during summer.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
A few more questions if you don't mind:
The 3 jasmines I have are small right now (20 inches or so?). You say one plant would be enough for the wall (btw it's just over 3m wide and 6 high), what would be the downsides to putting in 2 or even 3?
Would putting in both ivy (if my variegated cuttings prosper) and jasmine be a bad idea? Again, just re quickest possible coverage though I'd prefer only jasmine in an ideal world.
How far out from the wall (and fences) should the vine eyes be, ideally? Anything wrong with using 100mm eyes as opposed to 75mm?
Sowing sweet peas - online guidance is into pots or directly into ground, any time between now and April. So that is not much help for the beginners among us! Ideally of course I'd chuck a few seeds down in April, or buy seedlings (are they easy to get?), but what would be the best approach? Bearing in mind no cool rooms in modern build house and no greenhouse.
Lastly I did forget to say I've bought a bunch of bulbs (dwarf daffs, crocus and grape hyacinth) to plant now. How would that work with the sweet peas, in terms of advisability and positioning?
Can't tell you how much I appreciate the assistance, I'm really quite at sea with it all.
There are many jasmines, there is also Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum Jasminoides), which, just to confuse matters, isn't a jasmine.
Do you know which you have?
Star Jasmine will cover an area about 12m x 8m over time so they get to be very big plants.
Planting more would give faster cover, but after a while you'll have 2 or 3 plants that each want to grow to about 12m x 8m. So in a few years time you'll be doing a lot of cutting back and untangling.
I wouldn't grow ivy. It will cling to the wall and doesn't need wires.
It will also be fighting with your jasmine that would be on wires in front of it.
You'll end up with a very confusing situation. Once settled the jasmine will quickly outgrow the ivy.
the 100mm vine eyes would be ideal.
You can sow sweet peas now and over winter them if you have a cold frame or greenhouse, but I'd just sow them in the spring around March/April. You can sow direct in the ground, or in seed trays/pots. Yes, they are very easy to grow.
If you plant your bulbs at the front, the sweet peas can go just behind them.
This is a Star Jasmine I had growing with Clematis Julia Correvon.
It worked because the Clematis grows on the front of the Jasmine, then in the Spring the Clematis gets cut right back to the ground and it's quite easy to lift it off the jasmine. Then during Spring the clematis smothers the SJ again
PS before doing anything, does that wall belong to your property?
If not, then you'll need to ask permission of the owner.
It can still be done if it's not your wall.
I put in stakes in front of my neighbour's fence for roses I wanted to grow as he didn't want them attached to his fence - fair enough, and 36 years on the roses are still doing well
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Your jasmine/clematis combination is beyond beautiful. Yes, it's star jasmine that I have. I really envy the colour of your clematis, I was advised to get montana, which is beautiful but far less impressive I think.
Do you see any deal-breaking issues with my plans to put in wisteria, clematis, and honeysuckle along the fences? (Particularly the west-facing one, less on the east one, will probably put in a nice dogwood there.)
Lastly, following your advice on positioning of the bulbs and sweet peas, would you mind advising me on how far I should plant the 3 "layers" from the wall - jasmine, sweet peas, and bulbs. Soil is surprisingly good quality, even next to the wall.
They grow so fast they smother everything.
My neighbour had one. It grew up and over the top of her fence and into shrubs in my garden where it flowered and often across the border and onto my lawn! - it was both annoying and pretty.
She got very few flowers on the part growing on her side of the fence and took it out after a few years.
I've no experience of growing wisteria, so can't help on that one other than I know it requires a certain style of pruning to do well.
Honeysuckle is easy and shouldn't be a problem.
Stick with a clematis that isn't too vigorous or you'll constantly be having to cut it back to stop it going next door.
Clematis come in 3 Types - Group 1 Group 2 and Group 3 each has different pruning needs. So just be aware they are not all pruned the same way.
Julia Correvon that I had was Group 3 which is cut back to the ground every spring.
Other groups are different.
Another one I had that flowered for months on end and stayed within bounds easily was clematis Hagley Hybrid - it thrived with almost no sun at all.
Plant anything as far away from the wall as you can as it will always be a dry spot, so watering may be needed in the Summer - maybe even in Dublin!
You can dot the bulbs around wherever you like, then as they die down later in the spring you can plant the sweet peas amongst them and train them onto your wires.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.